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Chapter 29: The Strangers III

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"There is only one way for us to enter the Grand Line safely and that's through the Reverse Mountain. I heard of other ways but none are viable to us." Laffitte commented as he opened up a large map.

"How long have you been planning to enter the Grand Line?" Capone asked as he took a smoke of his cigar.

There is a reason why Laffitte is a very good Navigator. He had to learn a lot about geography and the such because he himself wanted to reach the Grand Line. 

"About a year," Laffitte smile softly as he answered, "I'm a natural talent." He beat Capone to it. Learning enough about geography to reach the Grand Line and navigate yourself through it should take years.

"With this ship, the trip to the Reverse Mountain should take approximately a week since we aren't too far off," Laffitte noted as he pointed out the distance between their current location and the mountain.

"This is where things can go very wrong," Laffitte further added as he pointed out to the Reverse Mountain, "This is an extremely tall mountain at one of the points where the four Blues meet. This place is unique in that rivers from the Blues flow up the mountain, meet at the top, and then flow down into the Grand Line. 

This is because the mountain, being a Winter Island, is much colder than the surrounding sea in the Blues but not in the Grand Line. The mountain has five rivers, four of which are ascending from each of the world's four Blue Seas and one descending into the Grand Line."

Neither Yovan nor Capone seemed surprised as noted by Laffitte. They must've already known that, understandably. They must've done their fair share of research.

So Laffitte continued to the most important part, "Many pirates entering the Grand Line die before they can even get up to the top of the mountain. 

The hostile water currents and storms force them to crash into the mountain walls if they don’t sail in at just the right angle. This is why I have yet to leave this playground of children."

A sweet smile emerged on Laffitte's pale face, "I was looking for meat shields to protect me just in case things go awry... Excuse my poor wording."

"Those things, I already know. I assume you know how to get us to sabaody Archipelago once we enter the Grand Line because that's what I truly want?" Yovan asked the most important question.

"Indeed, this is where this tiny exquisite toy comes in," As he spoke, Laffitte brought out an interesting object, "This is a Log Pose, a specialized type of compass, a necessity for navigating the Grand Line.

In the first half of the Grandline, the unique minerals in every island produce atypical magnetic fields that render ordinary compasses useless, thus why this beauty is needed."

"Our goal is the New World, is it not?" Capone Bege narrowed his eyes, musing some dangerous thoughts, "With our specialties, can't we in theory move through the calm belt and directly reach the New World?"

"Hmm, let's... The chances of death are just about 100%, so let me give you a lesson in the basics of Navigation. 

The Calm Belts are very effective barriers for those trying to enter the Grand Line; these areas are always completely calm, never having any ocean currents or winds blowing, making it impossible for non-self propelled ships to travel through, and we don't have that, do we?. 

The most dangerous thing is that They are also nesting grounds for the world's largest Sea Kings. 

That's already near certain death even if they can't kill us because if they destroy our ship, the ocean will be our eventual demise. We're all Devil Fruit users, so dead, especially you sir Capone. 

Sir Yovan is too gorgeous to die quickly, but he'll eventually be spent and fall to the ocean. There is no way he can cross the vast expanse that is the Calm Belt."

Laffitte wasn't done just yet as a grin emerged on his face, "Ahmmm, let's not talk about the New World because It's a hopeless endeavor."

Capone was a bit speechless. He was relying on the fact that his Devil Fruit is his ultimate defense, unbreakable by anything he had faced in the west, but well, the ocean can certainly break it.

And so, Laffitte basically took over Capone's underlings, instructing them on the direction while Yovan returned to his meditation. Capone was smoking cigars as usual.

This was definitely not a crew but just a bunch of Strangers seeking similar goals. 

Laffitte though was curious about Yovan's true goal, so after some time, he approached him and asked, "What's your goal? Do you have any dreams? Is there something you want in Sabaody Archipelago?"

Yovan slowly opened his eyes, seeming annoyed that his meditation was interrupted, but he still answered though, "My goal is simply to survive. I don't have the luxury of dreams, and I'm merely going there for survival."

"Oh..." Laffitte certainly didn't see such an answer coming. It confused him quite a bit, "So why are you going into danger if you want to survive? If you're in dangerous places, your chances of survival will be lower than staying here, no?"

Yovan shook his head before closing his eyes, having no intent on answering, 'I wish it was that easy... But I need tools that aren't me to survive.'

The increase in his stats signifies worst luck when the time comes. Outside means, however, won't count...  Weapons, people, and environments just like the Volcano. It's what saved his life after all.

That's also why Yovan chose to only focus on his Devil Fruit mastery and Haki. If things remain the same, then they shouldn't count on his misfortune, just his other states will.

Unfortunately, Yovan can not even begin to learn Busoshoku Haki because his conditions don't allow that.

And his skinny condition won't be ending anytime soon because it's intentional.

A week flew by in a few blinks of an eye. Long sessions of meditation didn't allow Yovan to enjoy the sweet breeze of the ocean and the vibrant blue expanse.

His eyes, instead, opened to an even more miraculous sight. Before Yovan was the Bahamut called Reverse Mountain. It was still very far away, yet it still looked colossal, seemingly breaching the clouds.

"Be ready!! The currents will become extremely hostile from now on, so do your thing." Laffitte warned before eyeing Yovan. 

Laffitte only needed to steer the ship towards the tiny passage on the front of the mountain. The violent currents took care of the rest.

Capone Bege called all of his subordinates that were helping in managing the ship back, getting them back inside of him.

Yovan finally stood up. Three weeks seemed to be enough for his fractured bones to heal. Well, his legs fully healed. His hand, on the other hand, was still in a bit of a terrible state.

His hand wasn't just fractured. No, it shattered, his hand bones turning into tiny pieces. Bandages were still completely encasing his entire arm.

He waited and waited, remaining stable in his place as the ship started to shake from the fierce currents, and they didn't enter the Reverse Mountain yet.

Yovan's role came when they entered the Mountain as he twisted into his crow form, landing on the ground and using his sharp talons to clutch to the ground.

The ship started to move vertically by this point, so Laffitte and Capone had to hang onto something.

"Feathers Of Desperation," Words reverberated from the dark crow as he flapped his wings, giving burst to a cluster of dark feathers. 

Yovan didn't stop there but continued to create more and more feathers that assembled around him like a hurricane, only leaving his side when the ship was on the verge of colliding with the left wall.

They were moving with such speed at the moment that destruction was inevitable if a collision happens. 

So the Dark Feathers of desperation did their due diligence and scattered about, acting as a soft protective layer around the ship, keeping it from colliding with the walls. 

That went on for minutes, but that wasn't the end. Once they reached the very top of the moutain, the current's direction changed.

Yovan could see four other passages. Three of which had their currents collide together while the latter seemed to be the passage leading to the Grandline. 

Its current was the accumulation of all of the other passages leading down into Death perhaps. 

If they weren't fast already, then once the ship started going down the central passage, the mere friction with the water seemed enough to destroy it.

The ship, however, held on long enough for Yovan to get over his exhaustion from his previous feat as he flapped his wings again.

This time, the feathers of desperation assembled on each side of the ship, seemingly merging together to form vast dark wings!